


Coffee, Confessions, and Poly Suggestions

by ForceAwakend



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Bisexual Ben Solo, Bisexual Finn (Star Wars), Bisexual Poe Dameron, Coffee Shops, College, I think Rey is the only straight one, Misunderstandings, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Polyamory, Polyamory Negotiations, Rating will change, Resolved Sexual Tension, Unresolved Sexual Tension
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-08
Updated: 2020-12-08
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:41:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,203
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27952511
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ForceAwakend/pseuds/ForceAwakend
Summary: Polyamory (noun) - the practice of engaging in multiple romantic (and typically sexual) relationships, with the consent of all people involved.After finding out that his crush has a boyfriend, Ben immediately resigns himself to a failed endeavor. However, when he learns that Rey and Finn are in a polyamorous relationship, he sees it as his chance. When his protective (ex-boyfriend) best friend Poe comes to save the day, they both fall into negotiations that open them to new and rekindled relationships. However, when word gets around, will the new relationships stand the outward stress?
Relationships: Finn/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, Finn/Rey (Star Wars), Poe Dameron/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, Poe Dameron/Finn, Poe Dameron/Finn/Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 2
Kudos: 6





	Coffee, Confessions, and Poly Suggestions

If anyone asked Ben why he was in this coffee shop nearly every day, he’d say it was because he got a lot of writing done here; away from the distractions of home and with an endless supply of coffee. He’d say that, but it would be a complete lie. In truth, he got more done in the late-night hours he spent sleepless and writing, because if he didn’t write he’d just be staring at the ceiling thinking of her. She was the real reason that he was here almost every day.

Her name was Rey, and she’d started working at his favorite coffee shop about three months before. Coincidentally, that was about the time his trips to the coffee shop went from just long enough to get coffee a couple days a week, to sitting at a table in the corner for hours every day. Ben thought she was the most beautiful woman he’d ever laid eyes on. He’d made a damn fool out of himself the first time he met her, stumbling over his words when trying to order the same thing he’d been ordering for years, ever since college. But Rey was either very sweet or very good at her job and endlessly patient, because she’d simply smiled at him and waited for him to get the words out, only giggling a little at how he stumbled over his words and not at all in a way that could be interpreted as rude. Since then she’d gotten more than used to him as a regular customer, so his order would be rung in by the time he got to the register and he could just exchange quick pleasantries with her as he handed over his cash. And he definitely hadn’t switched to cash just to have more of an excuse to let their hands brush. Not at all.

He looked over the top of his mostly-ignored laptop to where she stood behind the counter, smiling like sunshine and chatting with regulars. She seemed to genuinely enjoy her job and it just made her that much lovelier to watch as she went through the motions of her job, from the register to the drink stations and back again. Her smile hardly wavered, and her infectious joy seemed to spread to her coworkers and even the customers. Everyone who came in the store since she started working there just seemed happier, but Ben supposed that could just be his own bias coloring his perception, since he was _definitely_ happier since she started working there.

He’d been trying to for weeks to get up the nerve to ask her out. They chatted a little bit here and there when he’d come in for a coffee and to “write.” She was friendly and he thought she might have been flirting with him a few times, but he also wasn’t naïve enough to think that every woman who smiled at him was flirting with him. It was entirely possible that she was merely doing her job and being friendly and she was never flirting at all, and Ben was worried that if he asked her out he’d just be that creep who made her feel uncomfortable at work. The last thing he wanted to do was make her feel uncomfortable. What if she quit? What if he ruined what was clearly a good job for her because he couldn’t keep it in his pants? Even if she wasn’t interested in him, Ben liked seeing her all the time and talking with her when the café was slow. He didn’t want to ruin what they had, even if what they had wasn’t exactly what he wanted. It was better than nothing, which was what he would have if he fucked up and asked her out when she hadn’t really been interested in him at all.

Still, he could always be polite about it, right? He gave himself the mental pep-talk he’d been repeating to himself over the past few days as he sat there and sipped his coffee, watching her while trying to make it look like he wasn’t watching her. He could be honest with her. “Look,” he could say, “you are amazingly beautiful, and I genuinely enjoy our little chats. I’d like to go on a date with you, if you’d like, but I will also respect a no if you’re not interested.” He hoped that emphasizing the fact that he wouldn’t hold it against her if she said no wouldn’t backfire and come across as wheedling or manipulative. He could specify, “I’d like to be just friends, too, if that would suit you better. I don’t mean to pry or make you feel uncomfortable, I just thought I would ask. I’ll drop the subject and never speak of it again if that’s what you’d like.”

Ben groaned inwardly. Rehearsing his “speech” just made it sound… well… rehearsed. Would that make it sound insincere? It did sound a little rambling, now that he thought about it. And the rehearsed air of it would only make him sound like the kind of guy who wouldn’t just take no for an answer, despite the fact that he absolutely would. He was acutely aware that oftentimes those who go out of their way to point out how nice they are, are often actually not that nice at all. Still… what choice was there other than honesty? He didn’t want to go with a cheesy pickup line, or some hastily scribbled phone number on a napkin or cup sleeve. Those were too cliché and had too much potential to backfire if she didn’t actually want to be with him. At best they’d come off as awkward and contrived, and at worst they might seem predatory.

A text pinged from his phone. He looked down and rolled his eyes. Of course it was from Poe.

_So, you do it yet? When’s the wedding?_

He chose to ignore his friend’s childishness for now and locked his phone back, shoving it into his pocket. Poe was right to goad him, though. He’d been dancing around this for weeks and it was apparently driving Poe mad, hearing Ben pace around the apartment half the night and furiously typing away the other half. Ben took a deep, steadying breath and stood. Then froze just as he was moving to leave the table.

A man had walked in the door, one Ben had never seen before. That was normal enough. Not everyone here was a regular, it was a pretty big town and there were always some new faces. No, what caught his attention was the way Rey’s eyes lit up when the man walked in. She was always sunshine incarnate, but now… she was blinding. And it made Ben’s heart sink.

The man, just a smidge taller than Rey, broad shouldered and dark-skinned with close cropped hair and a smile to match Rey’s for brightness, walked to the counter where Rey took advantage of the otherwise mostly empty café to scurry around and throw her arms around his shoulders. Ben sank back down to his seat like a balloon with the air let out.

“Finn!” Rey exclaimed, joy evident in her voice. “I thought you wouldn’t be off work until tonight?”

The man, Finn, answered by leaning in and giving her a quick peck on the cheek. “Got off early today. You’re off in ten, right? I wanted to walk my girl home, got a date night planned for us at home.”

Ben wasn’t eavesdropping, he really wasn’t. The music here was low, and conversations carried easily. The two employees other than Rey who had been working that day were in the back (Ben thought he remembered hearing something about inventory) and there were only a handful of other customers in the café, all with headphones in and either laptops or books in front of them. There wasn’t anything to block out the words that were currently breaking Ben’s heart.

Rey leaned up to kiss her boyfriend, and Ben turned his attention back to his laptop. _Oh well,_ he thought to himself, _at least you found out before you humiliated yourself by asking her out._ Maybe now he could move on with his life and get some writing done. _It could’ve been worse_.

And worse, apparently taking this thought as a challenge, happened. “Ben!” Rey chirped, much closer than she had been before. He looked up from his laptop to see she was standing next to his table, holding Finn’s hand. “I want you to meet my boyfriend, Finn. He’s been wanting to meet you, I talk about work a lot and, well, you’re my favorite regular, so you come up a lot.”

Finn greeted Ben with a warm hello and held out his hand, which Ben shook dumbly. He wasn’t quite sure how to process this. _She talks about me? I’m her favorite regular?_ He supposed he’d take being her favorite something. Better than nothing, right?

He forced a smile onto his face. “It’s nice to meet you, Finn.” Turning to Rey, he continued, “I didn’t realize I was your favorite regular. I’m flattered.”

Rey blushed. Or at least it looked like she blushed. Why would she blush for anything Ben said? He didn’t have time to think too much about this as Finn spoke again.

“It’s nice to meet the man my girlfriend talks so highly of.” Ben noted the utter lack of jealousy in Finn’s voice, and he wasn’t sure how to feel about it. It was good Finn wasn’t jealous, Ben didn’t want to break up a relationship, nor did he want to think about Rey being with someone overly jealous. But it did sting a little bit. Some part of him had been hoping for a hint of jealousy to tell him that maybe he had a chance at some point, even if he wouldn’t wreck a relationship to take it.

Ben’s thoughts kept cycling in and out of his mind as he processed Finn’s words. It didn’t sound like Finn was angry. Maybe he was amused, or just humoring Rey. _Trying to come up with a reason as to why someone already in a relationship would want to flirt with you, huh?_ he mused, frowing slightly as he fidgeted with his cooled mug.

Rey reached between them and took the drink from Ben, making her way back to the counter. He smiled slightly and turned his attention back to Finn. “I never thought she had a reason to talk about me outside of work,” he admitted, giving a self-deprecating chuckle. “I had imagined myself quite forgettable, come to think of it.”

Grunted a little, Finn sat across from Ben and put his elbow on the table. He rested his chin in his hand and narrowed his eyes, and Ben feared he was trying to stare into his soul. After a few moments, Finn shrugged and Ben nearly sighed from relief. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. He unlocked it and shot off a quick message to Poe, adding a frowning face.

 _I struck out. Like, big time._ He pushed a hand through his hair and went back to his message. _She has a boyfriend. He looks like your type, too._

Three dots appeared on the screen as Ben put his phone on the table, turning his attention back to Finn. “How long have the two of you been together?” he asked, trying to appear more friendly than he felt.

Finn coughed into the back of his hand and rubbed the back of his neck. “We kind of… we met through a polyamory group. The girl I was with when I met Rey, her name was Rose. She introduced the both of us and we instantly hit it off.”

Intrigued, but rather confused, Ben went to reach for the drink as Rey placed it into his hand. “So, what are you guys talking about?” she asked, her smile lighting up the room.

“Finn was just telling me how you guys met,” Ben said as he sipped at the drink.

Rey blushed a little as she looked at her boyfriend. “Do you have any questions about polyamory?”

The door opened and the bell rang, and Poe’s voice broke through the small din of the coffee shop. “You know Ben loves you, right?” Poe asked, looking at Rey. “He’s just too nice of a guy to say anything, seeing as you have a boyfriend.”

Ben coughed before he blushed, looking at Rey with a slightly pleading look in her eyes. Finn got up from the bench and stood protectively in front of Rey, although his lips parted as he looked at Poe. Poe walked forward like a man on a mission and stood next to Ben, putting a hand on his friend’s shoulder. He squeezed a little before he looked between Rey and Finn, something creeping into his gaze before he offered a small smile.

“How about we start over, yeah?” Ben suggested, scooting over and motioning for Poe to sit. He watched as Finn and Rey sat as well, then sighed as Poe sat as well. “I think we have a few things to discuss.”

**Author's Note:**

> I'm honestly not sure when this was started, but my girlfriend and I have both worked on this fic. I'm planning it to be the first part of a larger collection, but that is up in the air. I am currently in a polyamorous relationship, so some of this will be drawn from my own experiences. I hope you come along for the ride. :)


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